"Sardinia is a welcoming land, a true encounter where I found a lot of intelligence and availability". The words of Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, spoken by a train taking him back to Bologna, close 23 minutes of conversation in which he talks about the Church and the message that the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference will launch today on the occasion of the Pastoral Care of Tourism in Tortolì. A message of hope and responsibility in the choices, to be made today for tomorrow and for the generations to come.

Cardinal, what happened in recent days in Civitanova Marche has greatly affected public opinion. Can you see so much violence without doing anything?

«We must take into account many factors but certainly we must condemn the attitude to violence. Not intervening is something that has lasted too long. All of us are used to witnessing and thinking that we can not do anything. These outbursts of violence are not only the result of loneliness and irrationality, as with many femicides, we can never get used to them. We must tone down and be vigilant in helping others, have pity for the person killed, for his family, for the child, we must never lose him, for everyone, whoever he is, without ifs and buts, and without hiring other meanings ".

The government has just fallen: you have said that this will be a problem for the weakest and for those who suffer from inequalities.

“Surely we need measures to be taken quickly. We are always inclined to think that there is another opportunity. This is a decisive moment, whether or not we do things will lead to consequences, so we hope that the measures of national and European interest and common to all will not be called into question and will be able to find the appropriate solutions even in time. There is much concern for the autumn and Istat data, not polls, speak of 6 million people in poverty, this requires us to make decisions ».

Pope Francis, on his return from Canada, in view of the elections, made an appeal to responsibility.

«Of course, it is the indication of the Church and I believe it is important for those who must choose and who must represent the citizens. It is not a blank proxy. The more there is interest, attention and participation, the more politicians will be able to play their role in a high way, looking to the future. You plant today what you will need tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Sometimes we all want the bonus, collect immediately, instead we have to see what goes beyond us, knowing how to make the pandemic a reason for growth ».

Sardinia experiences the paradox of being a holiday island, but we also suffer from great inequalities and in recent days the principle of insularity has finally been included in the Constitution. What do you think?

“These principles are decisive, if we get used to inequalities it is dangerous for everyone, not only for those who are left behind but also for those who move forward. The pandemics have reminded us that we are too accustomed to inequalities, an equalization is worthwhile for everyone. If the measure goes in the sense of guaranteeing more opportunities to those who have less, according to that wise indication of Don Lorenzo Milani that there is nothing more unfair than dividing the cake equally among those who are not equal, it means having more pay attention to those who have less ».

The Pope often speaks of environmental issues, which are central today to the future.

«The centrality of Pope Francis' reflection is always the person and therefore it is clear that the environment, which we can destroy or preserve, determines whether life becomes possible or impossible. Here too we have clear signs that we try not to read and react only in emergency terms, but the choices must become continuous, structural, transformative, basic. It is a question of understanding that there is a greater interest in survival, and therefore in life, and not only for us but also for those who come after ».

Sardinia is suffering from a depopulation problem, how can the Church intervene?

«The problem of the birth rate is very important, no generation before us had so many possibilities and at the same time we live in a condition of lack of trust and precariousness, fear, uncertainty of the future, which causes more anguish than hope. The Church is very worried but so is the business world which has to deal with the lack of manpower. The Forum of families has adopted some proposals and the single check seems to us an important indication ».

Given also the depopulation, the Sardinian Church is moving towards an amalgamation of the Dioceses?

«It is not a problem only for Sardinia but for all of Italy and we need to find a point of balance. There is depopulation, there is the reduction of the clergy, we cannot think of living with an ecclesiastical geography which, however, is also our history and which guarantees so much closeness, proximity. Pope Francis told the CEI: look, there are too many; then some time later he told us: I understand the difficulties because someone wrote to me: "How can we do it, that if the bishop goes away, there is nothing left here". And the bishop guarantees more familiarity and a less institutional and more proximity idea of the Church, which is indispensable for community relations. So it is a question of finding a balance between these two needs ».

The Sardinian Church is experiencing a particular moment with the appointment of Monsignor Baturi as secretary of the CEI and Monsignor Miglio who becomes cardinal.

«It is certainly a great recognition for the whole of Sardinia and for your Church. Monsignor Baturi will have to do double duty and will have to be particularly close to him because he has an important responsibility both in Cagliari and at the national level but I am sure he will do it well because he has a Church that will help him and will be very close to him ».

Today he will talk about information and disinformation.

«It will be a message both for those who produce information and for those who use it, sometimes things get confused with digitization because each of us communicates what we live. But the message is to help a deep understanding, not extreme that always knows how to be respectful of the person and even in language never yields to hatred and instigation. The seeds of hatred and division generate more, for which information has a great responsibility.

Those who produce information sometimes run after those who use it and this is a mechanism that can become perverse to the downside, instead we need to grow using this tool to help the knowledge of the other and learn to live together ».

Giuseppe Deiana

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